MUSKEGON TOWNSHIP, MI – Officials say no one was endangered by a relatively small leak of anhydrous ammonia Tuesday afternoon, Sept. 3, at Bayer CropScience on Whitehall Road.

It was not immediately known exactly how much of the caustic gas escaped into the air. The first report was that it was as much as 200 pounds, but that appears to have been a substantial overestimate, according to company and Muskegon Township fire officials. The amount that leaked may have been as low as 50 pounds, site manager Harold Lofton said.

Release of more than 100 pounds of anhydrous ammonia must be reported immediately to local emergency officials and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Lofton and Muskegon Township Fire Chief David Glotzbach said air monitors placed at various spots around the perimeter of the Bayer site at 1740 Whitehall Road showed no detectable levels of ammonia.

Although Bayer workers called 911 to report the leak and firefighters responded, as it turned out, “it was not an emergency situation,” Glotzbach said.

Lofton said contractors were doing routine maintenance on equipment at the site and, when starting it back up, discovered a small amount of ammonia had leaked. The leak was stopped and emergency officials were called at approximately 5:30 p.m.

Anhydrous ammonia is commonly used in commercial refrigeration systems. In high enough concentrations it causes burns to the skin and irritation to the eyes, nose and throat and may be fatal if inhaled for long periods of time.

In Sun’s case, the company eventually agreed to pay more than $65,000 in penalties to the federal government for failing to immediately notify authorities of a six-hour, 1,400-pound leak. That leak from a chiller unit started at 3 p.m. Sept. 3, 2012, but Sun Chemical didn’t report it until the next day.